Automatic roller fastener



June 1,539,858

J. J. MORROW AUTOMATIC ROLLER FASTENER File@ Ju 9.- 1924 I A I g/ w wJOHN d. HoRRow ATTORNEYS INVENTOR i Patented June 2, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-.1c

JOHN J'. MORROW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO A. C. WICKEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OFl NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC ROLLER FASTENER.

' Application filed .Tune 9,

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. MoRRow, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of 619 Nest 176th Street, in the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic RollerFasteners, of which vthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to fastening devices for doors and moreparticularly to automatic roller fasteners for refrigerator doors' andthe like.

An object of my invention is to provide a fastening device for doorswhich is of simple construction, easy to manipulate from either side ofthe door, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fastening device forrefrigerator' doors in which the spring for automatically operating thelatch is hidden.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fastening device forrefrigerator or other doors which is capable of manual operation fromeither' side of the door and which has the manual means for opening thelatch disposed substantially adjacent the free edge of the door.

A further object of my invention is to provide a fastening device forrefrigerator doors and the like which includes an operating lever foropening the door from the outside and means for opening the door fromthe inside which is not connected to the. outside operating lever.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent from a reading of thefollowing description.

Certain forms of automatic roller latches which have been quiteextensively manufacf` tured, are provided with torsion springs.

These springs are disposed around the shaft the edge of the door, as thesprings are of considerable length, thus reducing the amount ofavailable leverage for opening and closing the door.

Inasmuch as refrigerator doors of the type employed in meat markets andpacking houses and the like,-are of considerable By reason of thelocation of thel 1924. serial No. 718,737. 4

weight, it is' desirable tofswing-the door open'with the least amount ofeffort, gand, obviously, if the lever is disposed at -the\`edge of thedoor one wouldsecure the greatest amount of leverage to accomplish thisoperation. In order to obtain this kdesirable advantage, my inventionvprovides for locating the operating lever substantially at the edge ofthe door. I amfablexto'obtain this advantagelby reason ofthe factthatthe torsion spring is dispensed' with and in its stead I employ acompression v.spring which is located within the door.V l

By placingthe spring within the also overcome the objectionto'theexposed torsion springs which is that of` collecting dust, grease,`and.l the like, thus making the latching mechanism of vunsanitaryYappearance. In addition, torsional springs are subject to breakage whichnecessitates their replacement, during which time the latching means aretemporarily rendered inoperative. l

In order vto `overcome the above Vdisadvantages, my invention providesfor placing the spring within the door, and it is so arranged that itmay directly cooperate with the usual plunger rod which is employed' torelease the latching means from within the door. Thischange in `locationof the spring enables me top ro-vide for a different action thereof, asthe spring may operate through its expansive action to retain-thelatching roller in its normal locking position. Obviously, withcompressive springs, the breakage of the spring between its ends doesnot render the latching means inopera-lv tive, .because the rspring maystill be compressed, while with the torsion'spring,.if the spring wereto break, its entire effectiveness tothrow the latching roller would bedestroyed. The change in location ofthe spring enables me to positionthe outer Op@ erating lever for releasing the roller jlatch as close tothe edge of thedoor as is desirable and thus provide for the easy'opening of the door thereby. In addition, the spring is removed from aposition where it can gather moisture, dust, grease and the like, andthus maintains the latch in a sanitary condition. f

I The invention may be better understood by referring to the followingdescription and the drawing, inl Which-`` Fig. l is a plan'view of Vtheimproved latching device with the outer end of the outside operatinglever broken away.

Fig. 2 is a front View of the latching device with a portion `of theouter Operating lever removed, and l Fig. 3 is a view showing thelatchin mechanism together with the plunger ro and sprin for operatingthe latch from the inner side of the door and normally holding thelatching roller` in locking position, the view bein taken on lineIIe-II, Fig. 2.V

Fi 4 1s a modified form `of theconnection etween vthe plunger rod andthearm for'operating the latching roller.

Y In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, thelatching device comprises a supporting plate 4 from which projectbearings 5 in which a shaft 7 is journalled "to rotate freely therein.One end of the shaft is disposed adjacent to the edge of the door and isprovided with a'rigid arm 8 extending at right angles therefrom.

Y The end of the arm is provided with a roller 9,Which is adapted toengage a keeper 11 integrallfw'ith a foot plate 12 which may be fastenedto the jamb of the refrigerator in any; desirable manner. The keeper 11has an inclined face 13 which is adapted to force the roller upwardly soas to rock the shaft 7, thus placing a spring, tolbe describedhereinafter, under compression.V The.

keeper has an undercutportion 13` in which the roller snaps after it hasridden overthe inclined face 13, thus securing the door firmly in lockedengagement with the refrig era-tor casing or jamb thereof. i

In order to open'the door from `the outer side with the least possibleexertion, I provide a'lever 14, which has a" hub portion 15 pinned at 16to the shaft 7. As Vwill be noted from Figs. 1 and 2, lthe lever 14 islocated substantially in line withv the edgel of the door, thusaffording the greatest amount of leverage with which to open vthe samewith I respect tothe pivotal support of the door.

VThe vdoor maybe opened from the inner .sideby means of a plunger rod 17which has a knob 18 on its inner end and'has itsA outer end 19 connectedto an `arm 21 kWhich latter is pinned to the shaftf7 at 22. The

connection between the plunger rod 17 and vengages a curved slot oropening 24 in the The .curvature of they slot 24 is such that thelongitudinal move' ment of the rod is substantiallyat right end of thearm 21.

angles to 'a` tangent to the curve at the point of contact of the pinwith the curve atV any point of its movement. The arm211may bevertically slotted at 24 to provide for moveV ment of the rod 17.

of a com ression spring 27 may abut. The other enti, of the ring 27engages the supporting late 4. t will thus be seen that upon a t rust orendwise movement of the plunger rod 17 toward the face of the-door thatthe sprin 27* will be placed under compression and t at the end 0f theplunger rod "operating upon the arm 21 will rock the" shaft 7 and thearln 8 carrying the roller 9 from its engagement with the keeper 11.Upon releasing the pressure upon the knob 18, the potential energystored in the spring Will rotate the shaft 7 and the armv 8 tov its Ynormal locking position, so that when the door is closed the latchwill'automatically like, and also t at it functions in a diiferentmanner from the springs heretofore in use and which depended uponatorsional action. v Y

In orderrto prevent the shaft 7 from being moved longitudinally fromitsbearings 5, a collar 28 may be pinned, as at 29, thereon. The rigid arm8 prevents an opposite longitudinal movement 0f the shaft 7.

Although I have describedand illustrated the plungerrod as beingconnected by a pin and slot arrangement to the arm 21, IV alsocontemplate merely an engagement therebetween. In such construction,which is illustrated in Fig. 4, the faceof lan arm 33 adjacent to theend'of a: plungerrod 34 may have an arcuate face 35, and `theendV of therod 34 may be' provided Withwa roller 36 to facilitate its movement overthe curved face of the arm. In such construction, it is essential vthatmeans be providedl to return the latch to its initial or lockingposition. This may be readily accomplished by entwining a spring 36about the shaft 7 and anchoring onel end thereto and having the otherend extend up on the inner side of the arm V33, or ka spring of this orother ltypes may be applied to the lever 14.

In order that there may be no consider; able .amount of leakage of warmair intoV the refrigerator through the opening pro- Y vided for theplunger rod, packlngs orV gaskets 37 and 38 may be provided infrictional engagement `with the lunger 17 plication of such insu atingpacking is o vious to those skilled in the manufacture of refrigeratorsand the like. l

' A rubber strip 43may be disposed between theedge ofthe door and thejamb to providefor an hermetic seal. 1 i n yThe refrigerator door may beofthe usual type consistmg of frame members and anels forming the innerand outer faces of)4 the door, and aninsulating material 41 mayfbe i lagdisposed therebetween. ,l

The 'L For the purpose of providing locking means for the presentdevice, the keeper l1 is provided with an aperture 43 through which thebolt of a pad-lock may be passed and locked when the roller 9 is engagedwith the keeper. The pad-lock will thus prevent the removal of theroller from the keeper and thus provide an effective lock.

Modifications of my invention will suggest themselves to those skilledin the art,

but such as come within the terms of the appended claims arecontemplated by me as falling within the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A fastener forl doors, comprising a latch for holding the doorclosed, a hand lever disposed adjacent the edge and upon the face of thedoor for releasing the latch from the outside of the door, a plunger rodextending through the door, aspring within the walls of said door andsurrounding a portion of said rod, said plunger rod being associatedwith said latch so that the spring is placed under compression when thelever is moved to release the latch and to return the latch to lockingposition.

2. Afastener for doors, comprising alatch for holding the door closed, ashaft disposed parallel to the face of said door, said latch beingdisposed on one end of said shaft, a lever *secured to said shaft forreleasing the latch from locking position, an arm secured to said shaftand disposed adjacent said lever, and means within the door associatedwith said arm for throwing the latch to locking position.

3. A fastener for doors, comprising a latch for holding the door closed,a shaft disposed parallel to the face of said door, said latch beingdisposed on one end of said shaft, a lever secured to said shaft forreleasing the latch from locking position, an arm secured to said shaftand disposed adjacent said lever, a rod extending through the door andassociated with said arm for releasing said latch, and means disposedaround said arm for normally throwing the latch to locking position.

4. A fastener for doors comprising a latch for holding the door closed,a lever arm on and parallel to the edge of the door 'and adjacent saidlatch for releasing the same, an arm adjacent said lever and remote fromsaid latch, and means including a spring for normally throwing the latchto locking position and operable to release the latch from the innerside of the door.

5. A fastener for doors comprising a shaft parallel to the outer face ofthe door, a latch arm at one end of said shaft, a swinging lever on andparallel to the edge of said door and adjacent said latch, an arm at theother end of said shaft, a plunger rod extending through the door andengaging said arm, and means surrounding said rod for normally throwingthe latch to locking position.

6. A fastener for doors comprising a rock shaft, a latch arm extendingat right angles from one end of said `shaft, a lever secured to saidshaft and disposed adjacent the end of the shaft upon which said arm islocated, an arm secured to said shaft` adjacent said lever, and meanswithin the door for engaging said arm to normally maintain the latch inlocking position.

7. A fastener for doors, comprising a. shaft adapted to rotate about anaxis substantially parallel to the plane of the door, an arm secured toone end of said shaft, a latch roller carried by said arm, a stationarykeeper having an inclined front surface adapted to engage the latchroller, a spring normally tending to throw the arm on the shaft so as tohold the latch roller in engagement with the keeper, said spring beingdisposed in said door, a lever for swinging said latch so as to releasethe same from the keeper, and a rod extending through the doorv andassociated with said shaft for releasing the latch roller by operationfrom Within the door.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 3 day ofJune,

JOHN J. MORROW.

